Debate surrounding the advantages and disadvantages of Australian cannabis legislation is often framed as a simplification between two competing choices relating to levels of harm to individuals and to society, with the same evidence and information selectively interpreted, to bolster opposing arguments (Hall, 2008). The choices are: cannabis use as harmless and therefore, should be decriminalised or legalised based on prohibition’s inability to deter use, crime, mortality and morbidity (McGeorge & Aitken, 1997) versus continued prohibition due to harmful effects of addiction, crime and health consequences (Dennis & White, 1999; Hall, 2008). This simplification glosses over the advantages and disadvantages of the health consequences and potential medical benefits to use, the economic costs of enforcement, criminal administration and decriminalisation plus the social costs to individuals and society. In addition to there being no public unanimity on the harms that are of most significance, nor the required action from the government in overseeing those harms (Weatherburn, 2014).
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Quantifying the desired and achieved levels of harm minimisation is both difficult and problematic due to the lack of public consensus regarding the harms that are most important and requiring priority, in addition to the context they occur in (Weatherburn, 2014). Polarised views of minimising harm for the health of individuals versus society, motivations for use as medicinal versus youth experimentation to long-term dependency plus combining economic costs and benefits of a criminal prohibitionist approach as opposed to a civil prohibitionist approach means legislation is required to find balance between the policy that reduces the most amount of harm for the least amount of resources, with the highest expectation of
There is a major debate in today’s world about the legalization of cannabis, especially, in the United States. States such as California and Illinois have already moved forward in their open-minded thinking about the drug and are allowing people to use marijuana as an alternative to other prescribed drugs in treating the effects of certain ailments. The idea of legalizing marijuana is a touchy subject for many people; on the one hand its properties are beneficial to many people who suffer from many different illnesses, on the other hand, it is an illegal substance that has many addictive qualities. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s website, “Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in the treatment, in the...
We live in a “recreational drug culture”, with the current criminalization of illicit drugs being driven by the common but not entirely universally accepted assumption that negative externalities will instead be placed in on society. Addressing the seemingly ever-infinite "war on drugs", in "Why We Should Decriminalize Drug Use", Douglas Husak argues in favour of the decriminalization of drugs in terms of not criminalizing the use of such recreational drugs. In this paper, I will dispute that Kusak 's argument succeeds because of the lack of justification for prohibition, and the counterproductiveness and how numerically evident the ineffectiveness of these contemporary punitive policies are.
An issue that has been brought up in recent times throughout Australia is if marijuana should be legalised for the medicinal benefit of many sick Australians around the country. Medicinal Marijuana has been used in ancient China ever since 2700 B.C and the use has continued for the same purpose as many thousand years have passed. Marijuana could be accessed by anyone in Australia and be used in any area at any given time; it wasn't until 1914 that drug use was defined as a crime, under the Harrison Act. Now, in the 21st century, Marijuana is illegal to be taken in the Australian public although some states allow for small amounts of marijuana to be grown or owned on private properties. All other Australian states hand out fines for any amount of marijuana found in possession. There are many positive consequences that can be concluded if marijuana was to be legalised for medicinal purposes; not only can the use of marijuana cure sickness and other health issues but also legalising marijuana could boost the economy.
Marijuana has long been the subject of many heated debates and political platforms. With lack of un-biased materials on marijuana, it quickly became victim to publications and political propaganda in the early 1900s. Richard Isralowits writes, “Publications from the period had such titles as Marijuana-Sex Crazy Drug Menace, Marijuana-The Weed of Madness, and Marijuana: Assassin of Youth”(Use of Marijuana,105). Surely in this modern age and heightened public awareness our marijuana laws, drafted in a time of extreme bias, have got to be obsolete. Although many people still have strong opinions against the legalisation of marijuana, after review of current un-biased studies and reports they will find that this is not the case. Marijuana should be legalised in Canada because of the cost, the justice system, and the health concerns.
Pauly, B. (2008). Harm reduction through a social justice lens. International Journal of Drug Policy, 19(1), 4-10. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2007.11.005
In 2012, Colorado took a bold move and declared that Cannabis, also know as Marijuana or weed, is legal to buy for people 21 and over. Washington followed Colorado's footsteps and legalized weed, too. These actions are sparking questions if Colorado and Washington made the right choice. Should all states legalize weed or not? Initially, the United States is split into two sides. Those sides are people that want Marijuana legalized and those that don't. Legalizing marijuana has its pros if it is used to benefit the medical field, but there are cons in overusing and abusing it.
Riley, D. Drugs and Drug Policy in Canada: A Brief Review and Commentary. Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy and International Harm Reduction Association (Prepared for the House of Commons of Canada). November 1998
Nadelmann, Ethan. "DRUGS: THINK AGAIN." European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies. Sept.-Oct. 2007. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .
Deliberation on the legalization and regulation of marijuana is divisive where one side argues for its economic contribution through taxes while the other argues against it because of the health concerns associated with prolonged marijuana use. On one hand, there are social and health issues that arise at the expense of marijuana legalization, which is bound to encourage prolonged use among youth who are then vulnerable to addiction and mental health problems. On the other hand, the economic and tax benefits that comes from legalizing marijuana are undoubtedly important because the money from the taxes can help regulate the consumption and prevent youth be affected by this drug as it’s has been done with tobacco and alcohol. Therefore, marijuana in British Columbia should be legalized and regulated owing to its economic advantages; also the reduction of organized crimes will benefit society greatly, since the income generated would be used to mitigate marijuana perceived health risks, which have not been verified as opposed to alcohol and tobacco.
The legalization of marijuana has been a highly debated topic for many of years. Since the first president to the most recent, our nation’s leaders have consumed the plant known as weed. With such influential figures openly using this drug why is it so frowned upon? Marijuana is considered a gateway drug, a menace to society, and mentally harmful to its consumers. For some people weed brings a sense of anxiety, dizziness, or unsettling feeling. Like alcohol, tobacco or any other drug, those chemicals may not respond well with their body. For other people marijuana brings joy, a sense of relief, and takes the edge off of every day stress. For those who are associated with cannabis, purposes usually range from a relaxant, or cash crop, to more permissible uses such as medicine, and ingredient to make so many other materials. We now need to look at what would change if marijuana were legal. Benefits to the economy and agriculture, health issues, and crime rates are three areas worth looking at. Deliberating on the pros and cons of this plant we can get a better understanding for marijuana. From there it will be easier to make a clear consensus on what is best for the nation.
The debate between prohibitionists and citizens who believe in the legalization of illegal drugs provide many arguments. Since there are many drugs that are illegal there are many different arguments on what should be legal and what shouldn’t. The biggest debate, and the argument that I will mostly focus on, is the reform of marijuana. Prohibitionists argue that marijuana has adverse health, safety, social, academic, economic, and behavioral consequences (Goldberg 183). Not only do they claim that it causes all of those consequences but it also can cause harm to others including family and friends (Rachels 228). The obvious argument in harming others is driving under the influence of the drug but proh...
“Based on the 2011 final report of the New Zealand Law Commission, and following consultations with the industry, the new approach aims to balance the demand for access to such substances with the risk of likely harm to individuals and society” (EMCDDA 4). It is important that if we were to legalize such substances, we be sure take proper precautions. New Zealand has set the age limit to 18 and the drugs are not to be sold in convenience stores or places selling alcohol. Any drug legalized goes through extensive testing. In order for this legalization to be beneficial to communities and the society in general, it needs to be kept
Introduction The legalization of marijuana is considered a controversial issue, something that can benefit people for medical purposes, but what about recreationally? Marijuana has been illegal since 1937, but there’s never been a bigger push for legalization. There are several reasons why it is illegal, because of government propaganda and big industry not wanting to lose money, but this will be discussed later. The purpose of this paper is to educate, theorize, and discuss various aspects of marijuana, such as its history, development, and the advantages and disadvantages of marijuana legalization. Finally, my personal reflection on legalization and marijuana in general will be discussed.
The Pros and Cons of Drug Legalization Should drugs be legalized? Drugs are resources that are capable of affecting the American economy in many ways—both positively and negatively. Drugs often have a bad name, even though they help us everyday in medical cases. and the drugs with the worst reputations are not the most abused drugs. One may benefit from the legalization of drugs in many ways, while others would suffer greatly.
Recreational drug use has been controversial for years. Government has deemed the use of certain drugs to be dangerous, addictive, costly, and fatal. Governmental agencies have passed laws to make drugs illegal and then have focused a great deal of attention and money trying to prohibit the use of these drugs, and many people support these sanctions because they view the illegality of drugs to be the main protection against the destruction of our society (Trebach, n.d.). Restricting behavior doesn’t generally stop people from engaging in that behavior; prohibition tends to result in people finding more creative ways to obtain and use drugs. However, just knowing that trying to control people’s behavior by criminalizing drug use does not work still leaves us looking for a solution, so what other options exist? This paper will discuss the pros and cons about one option: decriminalizing drugs.